In November 2019, Trank took to the movie review social media site Letterboxd, where he left an uncommonly honest two-out-of-five star appraisal of his film which, while tinged with regret, was far from dismissive.

The best thing about First Steps is the aesthetic. It’s far and away my favorite part of this film, and that’s a problem because as much as I do enjoy a solid retrofuturistic aesthetic, it’s not enough to make a mediocre movie worth watching. This is all style over substance.

First Steps features incredibly visually stimulating and nostalgia-inducing retrofuturistic aesthetics, but falls flat plot-wise as it follows a generic superhero movie formula

Is the new “Fantastic Four” movie fantastic? No, and not everyone will love the amount of downtime in this one. But good is good enough for a Marvel superhero movie these days.

On this week's episode of IndieWire's "Screen Talk" podcast, we review Matt Shakman's Marvel needle-reset "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" and parse the latest fall festival announcements.

Set in a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, the film presents a new iteration of Marvel's First Family: Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach).

A lot has to do with the fantastic four at the heart of this Marvel family, who live together and eat together, and are played by actors who play well off each other, particularly the always-splendid Kirby.

Early reviews for The Fantastic Four: First Steps are in: It’s a reboot worth watching.